Pickets Will Accept Limits In Whitehall

Striking service personnel in the Whitehall-Coplay School District yesterday agreed not to picket at the entrances to the campus during time periods when buses are entering or leaving the campus.

Attorneys for the Whitehall-Coplay School Service Personnel Association and the district announced the "interim agreement" after meeting in chambers with Lehigh County Judge Maxwell E. Davison.

A hearing for a final injunction was postponed when the parties reached the agreement.

Davison granted a special injunction on Friday that limited to four the number of pickets near each of the three entrances to the campus.

"Our bus drivers are concerned, and we're concerned for the safety of the children," said attorney Edward McCardle, who is representing the district.

A. Martin Herring, the union's counsel, said he also was concerned about the safety of all parties and said the pickets have agreed not to interfere with traffic in and out of the campus.

Herring and McCardle agreed to modify a paragraph in the injunction to prohibit picketing on the macadam areas used by buses between 7:15 a.m. and 8:35 a.m., 11 am. and 12:10 p.m., and 2:15 p.m. and 4 p.m.

At all other times, one picket may be within the macadam areas, according to the amendment.

McCardle said vehicles making left turns to enter the campus from Mechanicsville or MacArthur roads have been forced to slow down, creating a safety hazard and traffic backups.

Davison extended the injunction and said either party can ask the court to schedule a hearing if the agreement does not work.

The strike started after the union, representing custodians, maintenance workers and secretaries, rejected a final contract offer Aug. 30.